The process of urushikaki, or tapping urushi trees, consists of 3 steps. It might seems very simple and easy, but it's NOT! It requires delicate sensitivity and years of experience to be able to collect urushi for one whole season without killing trees.
1. Bark tree with "kawahagi kama" to make the rough surface flat and easier to work on:
2. Make a horizontal scratch with "kakikama":
3. Scoop up urushi drop using "kakibera" and put it into "kakidaru":
The white line on the top is the scratch we just made. Here you can see white tree liquid is pouring out from it!
From the moment it is taken out from trees, urushi quickly starts oxidization and changes its color from white transparent to milky brown.
All the pictures were taken in Ibaraki Prefecture, 2009 summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment